Plans revealed for ‘wellness village’ in Bridgend | News

Plans for 59 homes and a healthcare centre on the old Sunnyside council offices and magistrates court site in Bridgend have been submitted.

The development – called the Sunnyside Wellness Village – is a collaboration between housing association Linc Cymru and the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (ABMU) Health Board.

The three-storey health centre involves a GP practice, formed by the transfer of services from Ashfield Surgery and Newcastle Surgery, a pharmacy, a specialist dentist unit and a car park with 66 spaces.

The proposals include a mix of two, three and four-bedroom terrace homes as well as a small terrace of one and two-bedroom bungalows, designed for people with disabilities.

The site also includes a three-storey apartment with one and two-bedroom flats.

The local health board’s services include an audiology centre and community and out of hospital services, with sexual health, podiatry and

ophthalmology clinics.

Further facilities involve a minor operations room, a group therapy room, speech and language therapy, and paediatric services.

The dental surgery will be for patients who are obese, with phobias or who have additional needs.

Vehicular access will be provided from Glan-y-Parc and Sunnyside Road, as well as a proposed new access from Angel Street, to the south.

Part of the site gained planning consent for the development of a carehome in 2015 but it was never built due to the lack of demand for carehome provision.

The consent, which runs for another two years, relates to the former council offices only rather than including the magistrates court site.

Linc Cymru says that depending on what happens with the registrar’s office at Ty’r Ardd on the north of the site, it plans to add further housing there.

Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) is looking at moving the registrar’s office into the council’s civic offices after an increase in the number of wedding cancellations was put down to building work taking place on the Sunnyside site.

The Sunnyside site was purchased by Linc Cymru in March 2017 along with the magistrates court which has recently been demolished.

The Welsh Government has committed £60m to a Health and Housing fund which supports schemes jointly promoted by health boards, local authorities and housing association sectors.

Linc Cymru and ABMU says the site layout is driven by the opportunities for “encouraging physical activity and social interactions”.

The planning statement highlights the central communal courtyard space and the “large green public open space with space for communal growing opportunities for the local community and natural play”.

Over the summer two public meetings were held in Bridgend on the plans.

In the application’s planning statement, Linc Cymru states: “It was made clear at both events that although there was some support for the proposals, a clear level of opposition to the proposed development existed within the local community.”

Concerns from residents living nearby included issues over car parking, traffic, access, future residents and the loss of trees.

The statutory deadline for comments on the plans is January 11 but BCBC has said it will consider representations up until the application goes to committee.

It is likely to go before the February or March development control committee.